Understanding Elizabeth
by Burstie
Summary: Elizabeth James, Remus Lupin's seventeen year old niece, is forced to spend the summer before her seventh year at Grimmauld Place with the one person who aggravates her the most, Fred Weasley, who wants nothing more than to make her his girlfriend.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of "Understanding Elizabeth!" I hope you enjoy it! I've got two chapters written and Beta'd and a third one in the works. And I'm also working on re-editing my other story "Kisses Behind the Portrait Door," and working on Chapter Ten, but it's slow going. "An Unexpected Surprise" (QaF) is still going as well, but REALLY slowly. Just moved to college. VERY BUSY. Enjoy!**

**xxxoooxxxooo**

"Go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend," Fred said as he sat down on the couch in the Common Room next to Elizabeth James, a fellow sixth year. Well, flopped was more like it.

Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth closed the book she was reading and twisted around to face him, her legs tucked under her. "And why would I want to do that?"

"Because. . . I asked you?" Scratching his neck, Fred regarded her with a confused expression.

Elizabeth stood up and slammed her book down on the coffee table. "Fred Weasley, you are the most arrogant person I've ever met!" she snarled, stomping away towards the steps to the girls' dormitory. She stopped, however, when she saw George coming down the boys' stairs.

"Elizabeth? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Tell your brother to get a clue," she said roughly before running up the stairs.

George sighed and walked to the couch to sit with his twin. "What have you done this time?"

"Why do you think _I_ did something?" he asked.

George rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Because it's Elizabeth. And you _always_ do something when it's Elizabeth."

Sighing, Fred nodded and fell against the back of the couch. "All I did was ask her out to Hogsmeade."

"Again! Fred, that's the fourth time this month!" George threw up his hands and sighed. "When are you going to learn? She doesn't want to go out with you, mate."

Groaning, Fred fell forward with his elbows on his knees. "I know, George, but I can't help it. I've been asking her all year and she won't say yes!"

"That's called a clue, Fred. She doesn't want to go out with you!"

"But I want her to!" Fred yelled, jumping up. "She's all I want, George!"

George stood up slowly and stared at his brother. "Just wanting her isn't going to make her say yes."

"Then what do I do?" Fred asked.

Before George got a chance to answer, however, the boys were interrupted when Katie Bell came down the stairs and picked up Elizabeth's book. "You could start by trying to have a conversation with her. Try to find out something about her. Don't just assume that because you're a tall, handsome Quidditch player she'll say yes to whatever you ask."

"Well can you tell her to come down here so I _can_ talk to her?" Fred asked as Katie started to walk back up the stair case.

She just shook her head and kept walking. "She was right; you _do_ need to get a clue."

Fred turned around to his brother with a confused look on his face. "What did I do?"

"When a girl calls you arrogant and then runs off, that's not the time to go after her, mate." George held up his hand to silence any reply his brother was about to give. "Now come on. It's the last Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow. Then there's the final task and after that we'll have all summer to work on your approach. There's still another year. Just be patient." Fred conceded and followed George up the stairs to the dorm, hoping to run into Elizabeth the next day in town.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen, and none of her friends would tell Fred where she was when he asked, so he sulked around the village all day, and sulked some more at dinner and in the Common Room when he didn't see her there. Apparently, she'd spent the entire day in the library, and managed to avoid him when she came back to bed. There wasn't anything else he could do, short of kidnapping her and making her talk with him, so he resigned himself to his dreams and plans for the summer.

Everything seemed to be going normally for the end of the year. But that was all changed at the final task of the Tri Wizard Tournament. Plans were changed and lives were disrupted. Most handled it quite well. Elizabeth wasn't one of them.

"Why do I have to go!" the seventeen-year-old fumed at her uncle, Remus Lupin, as she paced around her room in the tiny flat they had shared since she was seven. She had only been home one day before her uncle announced that they would be spending the summer at Grimmauld Place.

Remus just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Elizabeth, we've been over this. Headquarters is the safest place right now. I can't leave you here alone all summer."

Groaning, Elizabeth flopped onto the bed, her deep brown hair fanning out onto her quilt. " _He'll _be there, won't he?"

"If by _he_, you mean Fred, then yes. Molly and Arthur are bringing all of the younger children to stay. Hermione will be there as well. You'll have no shortage of girls to talk to," he told her, leaning against her doorframe.

"By _he_, I mean the most arrogant, annoying, asinine person to ever walk the planet. And now I have to spend the summer with him." Sighing, she sat up and turned her amber eyes to her uncle. "Fine. But _when _I hex him, please be around so I can say that I told you so."

Remus just laughed softly and kissed his niece's head. "Wouldn't miss it, love. Now get packed, we don't have much time."

With a great sigh, Elizabeth flopped back onto her pillows. It wouldn't do any good trying to argue with Uncle Remus now, not once his mind was made up. She just hoped there were enough places at Headquarters to hide from Fred and his advances. Despite how horrible she felt about having to spend her summer with the Order, there was one person who couldn't have been happier.

"George, tell me the story again," Fred said dreamily from his bed. He heard his brother sigh and could picture him rolling his eyes. "Pretty please?"

"Fred, I told you when I came up here. Dad told Mum that Lupin is coming to stay at Headquarters this summer and is bringing his niece.

"Elizabeth," the enamored twin sighed, staring up at his ceiling.

Resisting the urge to stand up and smother his brother with his own pillow, George rolled over and groaned. "Yes Fred, _everyone_ knows that Elizabeth James is Lupin's niece, you don't have to remind me every five seconds."

"But George, don't you know what this means?" Fred asked, lifting himself up onto his elbow.

"Yes. But I'm sure you're going to tell me again anyway."

Grinning widely, Fred held in a yelp of joy. "I get to spend the _entire_ summer with the one girl I want to go out with."

"Just make sure you brush up on your shield charms before we move tomorrow."

Fred just brushed off his brother's comment and fell back onto the pillow, dreaming of what the summer would hold for him.

**xxxxooooxxxxoooo  
**

**I hope you liked it! Please review, feedback is always appreciated so I can know how I can get better!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter 2! I'm really happy with the hits I've gotten so far, but some reviews would be really nice!!**

**xxxoooxxxooo**

"I'm doing this under protest, you know that right?"

"Of course I do, love. Now take my hand."

With an annoyed sigh, Elizabeth reached out and took the hand her uncle offered to her. Soon, there was the familiar pull on her navel and she was standing in the front hallway of Order Headquarters, holding down the urge to regurgitate the beef stew she had just eaten. "Merlin, I hate apparating," she muttered, staring down the narrow hallway.

Her uncle merely gave her a smile and nod before heading to the kitchen, leaving her to take her bags up to the room she would be sharing with Ginny and Hermione. Pulling her long, wavy hair into a loose ponytail, she grabbed her duffel bag s and began the long walk up to the third floor.

"Not so fast, little lady," a familiar voice called after her. Turning around she beamed when she saw Sirius standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Sirius!" she cried, dropping her bags on the first landing before racing down the stairs to hug her uncle's best friend. Since Sirius' return from Azkaban, Elizabeth often visited him when she was home with Remus. The two were good friends, and she felt Sirius was someone she could really count on, and talk to if the subject was too much for her uncle to handle.

Sirius barked out a laugh and spun the young girl in a circle. "Forgot you were going to see me, did you?"

"Well, sort of," she admitted with a sheepish grin. "I'm sorry."

He just shook his head and set her down. "Don't be. It's perfectly alright. I've enjoyed your letters though. Congratulations on your exam scores, love."

"They're not that great," Elizabeth said with a shrug. "The only class I'm really good at is Defense."

"Nonsense!"

The young girl rolled her eyes. "I mean it. Have you seen my Potions grade? I barely got an A."

Scoffing, Sirius crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't get me started on that greasy git. He's just doing it because he doesn't like your uncle. But anyway, you're here now. I bet you're excited to spend the summer with poor old me?"

"Not really," Elizabeth admitted. "I've kind of had my mind on other things lately."

"Things like a certain pair of redheaded twins we know?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but nodded just the same. "Not exactly pair. Mainly one in particular."

Nodding, Sirius gave her a knowing look. "And is it wise to assume that this twin is the one who's been all smiles since he arrived this morning?"

"Oh, the dunderhead is here already?" Elizabeth asked, clearly already knowing the answer.

But before Sirius had a chance to confirm her suspicions, a set of tall, ginger haired young men entered the hallway. "Hear that, George? Elizabeth here thinks _you're_ a dunderhead!" Fred said with a grin, slipping his arm around Elizabeth's shoulder.

"Somehow I think you're mistaken, mate," his twin said, standing next to Sirius. George looked at Elizabeth with a hint of sadness at the pained expression on her face that bordered on fear. "I'm sorry," he told her.

Quickly covering up any emotion she might have been showing except annoyance, Elizabeth forcefully pushed Fred's arm off of her shoulder. "Away from me," she growled, turning on her heel and running back up the stairs.

Fred, George, and Sirius were left standing in the hallway. Turning to the other two, Fred held out his arms and asked, "What!" George slapped Fred across the back of his head and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Not a good way to start the summer lad. Now why don't you both go and help your Mum get dinner ready."

The twins nodded and left for the kitchen, Fred looking very glum. Remus passed them on his way out of the kitchen and walked over to Sirius. "So I take it Fred saw Elizabeth?"

"Oh yes," his best friend grinned as they made their way to the sitting room. "And I'd say it went rather well. She didn't yell at him."

Remus nodded and picked up a cigar out of his coat pocket, lighting it with his wand. "That does sound like it went well. Normally there's yelling, and I've heard she's thrown a hex or two at him."

Laughing, Sirius reached over and plucked the cigar from Remus' lips, placing it between his own. "You don't need this. Besides, Tonks hates it when you smoke. She's coming over for dinner you know."

Once again, Remus nodded, and Sirius couldn't help but burst into laughter at the goofy, schoolboy grin that spread over his best friend's face when his younger cousin's name was mentioned.

Hermione and Ginny were jolted out of the conversation they were having on Hermione's bed when Elizabeth opened the door. "Hi guys," she said, clearly looking tired.

"You've seen Fred already, haven't you?" Ginny observed.

"How could you tell?" Elizabeth asked blankly, heading to the bed at the far end of the room. The table next to it was empty, clearly meant for her use.

Hermione sighed and got off of her bed to put a hand on Elizabeth's arm. "Because you look exhausted, and you only just got here."

Nodding, Elizabeth moved to her bed and flopped down, burying her face in the pillow. She let out a high pitched scream before turning her head to the other girls. "Five minutes! I wasn't even here five minutes before he started coming on to me!"

"He's a stupid git," Ginny reasoned, coming over to Elizabeth. "I'll go beat the piss out of him if that will make you feel better?"

Elizabeth let out a light laugh and shook her head. "Not really, but I won't stop you if you wanted to anyway."

Laughing, Ginny patted Elizabeth's back before walking to the door. "Mum's probably already getting on to him. I think I'll go watch. See you at dinner."

The other two girls nodded and Elizabeth slowly sat up and grabbed her things to start unpacking .The first things she took out of her bag were four picture frames. She set three up, and lovingly caressed the fourth before setting it with the others. "Who are those of?" Hermione asked, coming over to look at them.

"This one is of Uncle Remus and I. Grandmum took it last Christmas," she explained, picking up a picture of her and her uncle sitting in front of a large, twinkling Christmas tree. As it was a wizard photograph, it moved, and currently, Remus was ruffling up his niece's hair, causing her to look at him in annoyance, but still smile. Picking up another, she pointed to an elderly couple holding a tiny baby in what looked to be a hospital. "These are my grandparents, and that's me. The day I was born."

"Aw, they look happy. Who's that?" Hermione asked, pointing to the witch in the last two pictures, one by herself, the other playing with a young girl no older than six.

Elizabeth smiled sadly and picked up the picture she had been stroking earlier. In it was a woman who looked much like Elizabeth did now, except that her brown hair was piled in curls on her head and she was wearing an elegant white gown. The witch in the picture was currently playing peek-a-boo with the camera, hiding her face behind a large sun flower. "It's my mum. On her wedding day."

Nodding, Hermione put her arm around Elizabeth and hugged her. It was common knowledge that Elizabeth's mother died when Elizabeth was just a young girl. "She's gorgeous. Why don't you have any pictures of your father?"

"He's in Azkaban," she said, her voice turning cold.

Hermione drew back, a curious look on her face. "Oh, I didn't know."

"It's okay." Elizabeth began putting the pictures back on the night stand. "No one does."

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry."

Elizabeth held up her hand and closed her eyes. "Don't be," she said shortly. "He deserves it after what he's done."

"What did he do? If you don't mind me asking." Hermione regarded her friend with a saddened, yet curious expression. Not many things could get Elizabeth acting this way. In fact, the only thing Hermione had seen so far was Fred and his advances.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and turned to Hermione. "He. . . killed my mum."

**xxxoooxxxooo**

**Hope you liked it! Review pretty please! **


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